Page images
PDF
EPUB

MEMORIALS

Of the Graduates of Harvard University, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. By JOHN FARMER.

[Dr. BELKNAP, the accomplished historian of New-Hampshire, in 1793, a few years after he left this State, issued proposals for publishing a work to be continued in volumes, entitled AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, in which, among various kinds of persons distinguished in America, he proposed to give an historical account of "THE DECEASED GRADUATES OF HARVARD COLLEGE." One volume was published during the life of the author, and another soon after his death, but neither of these brought the work down to so late a period as to include any account of the Graduates of Harvard, and from that time to the present, no publication has appeared proposing to give an account of the deceased sons of the oldest university in the country. The beginning of so désirable an object is here attempted, and should the attempt be sufficiently encouraged, it may be continued in a separate form, for which proposals have already been issued.]

1642.

1. BENJAMIN WOODBRIDGE, D. D., whom Dr. Calamy calls "the lasting glory, as well as the first fruits of the college in New-England, as Bishop Usher was at that of Dublin," was son of Rev. John Woodbridge, minister of the parish of Stanton in Wiltshire, and was born in the year 1622. His paternal ancestors for several generations were clergymen. His mother was daughter of Rev. Robert Parker, a learned puritan divine, and author of De Signo Crucis, De descensu Christi ad Inferos, and De Politeia Ecclesiastica works much esteemed by the dissenting clergymen of his time. His brother, Rev. John Woodbridge, was partly educated at Oxford, and came to this country in 1634, withhis uncle Rev. Thomas Parker, and afterwards became the first minister of Andover, Massachusetts. Benjamin Woodbridge had been a member of Magdalen College, in Ox

ford, but did not complete his education there, although he was afterwards admitted to the degree of Master of Arts at that University. For some reason, he left his native country and joined his friends in New-England. Here his brother had married into one of the first families; here was his uncle Parker, one of the first scholars of the time, and Rev. James Noyes, who had married his mother's sister, and several other friends, by whom he was cordially received. The college at Cambridge had commenced anew under the auspices of President Dunster; new students had entered, a milder government was instituted, and all its concerns assumed a more favorable aspect than they had done under his predecessor. Mr. Woodbridge became a member of this seminary soon after his arrival, and when he was graduated, was placed at the head of the class;-a rank to which he seems to have been entitled on account of his family connexions, and his literary acquisitions, which were probably surpassed by none of his colleagues.

He returned to England soon after completing his studies, and within a few years, was known as a popular and highly accomplished preacher. He is first represented as being "an eminent herald of heaven" at Salisbury, situated in a broad pleasant vale, on the river Avon, in his own native county. He had remained here but a few years, when he visited Newbury, in Berkshire, where his eloquence and talents, attracted the attention of several distinguished persons, and he was invited to succeed Rev. William Twiss, D. D., who was long the minister of that place, and whose name was familiar to the clergy of New-England, by his being the president of the Westminster assembly of divines, and by his works on theology, some of which are read at the present day by American students. In this station, Mr. Woodbridge shone

as a scholar, a preacher, a casuist, and a christian. His influence is said to have been so great, that he brought the whole town, which had been much divided into religious parties, to a state of harmony in opinion, and unity of worship, which produced a great and highly favorable change in the general aspect of society. This he effected by great labor and unceasing devotion to his parochial and ministerial duties. It was his custom for several years to preach three times a week, and to give an exposition of some portion of scripture, an hour every morning. His success was so remarkable, that before he left Newbury, there was scarcely a family in town, "where there was not repeating, praying, reading and singing of psalms in it." This is stated on the authority of Dr. Calamy.

After the restoration of King Charles II., he was one of his chaplains in ordinary, and on one occasion while in that capacity, preached before his majesty. He was one of the commissioners of the conference, at the Savoy in London, and was desirous of an accommodation, and regretted the failure of the efforts made to effect it. His chance for perferment in the church was perhaps superior to that of any of the early sons of Harvard, who returned to England; but his conscientious scruples were an insuperable bar to his advancement in ecclesiastical dignity. The canonry of Windsor was offered to him, but his determination not to conform to the ceremonies of the church, led him to decline its acceptance. In 1662, he was silenced by the act of uniformity, which went into operation in August of that year, and which deprived more than two thousand ministers, lecturers, masters and fellows of colleges, and school-masters, of their livings. As he could not after this preach publicly, he maintained a private meeting at Newbury, whither he had rc

turned after an absence of a year or two.

In 1671, upon some relaxation of the rigorous measures against the non conformists, he resumed his public labors, and continued them until about the time of his death, which occurred at Inglefield, in Berkshire, 1 November, 1684, in the sixty third year of his age. He had been the minister of Newbury, in public and private, nearly forty years. Though he suffered less perhaps than most of his dissenting brethren, yet he did not purchase any mitigation of ecclesiastical severity by bending his principles to suit the times in which he lived. He lived and died a non-conformist. He generally received, notwithstanding his non-conformity, the respect of good judges of true and real worth, however much his religious sentiments differed from theirs. Dr. Calamy says of him, that "He was a universally accomplished person; one of a clear and strong reason, and of an exact and profound judgment. His learning was very considerable, and he was a charming preacher, having a most commanding voice and air. His temper was staid and cheerful; and his behaviour very genteel and obliging. He was a man of great generosity, and of an exemplary moderation: one addicted to no faction, but of a catholic spirit. In short, so eminent was his usefulness, as to cast no small reflection on those who had a hand in silencing and confining him." Anthony Wood acknowledges, that "he was accounted among his brethren a learned and a mighty man."

His publications were, 1. A Sermon on justification by faith, 1653; 2. The method of grace in the justification of sinners, being a defence of the preceding, against Mr. Eyre, 4 to. 1656. Of this work, Calamy says, it "deserves the perusal of all such as would see the point of justification nervously and exactly handled." 3. Church Members set in joint, 4to. 1656. He also published in

1661, a work written by his uncle-in-law, Rev. James Noyes, entitled Moses and Aaron; or the rights of the church and state; containing two disputations. His name is subscribed to the Lines "upon the tomb of the most Reverend Mr. John Cotton, late teacher of the church of Boston in New-England," published in the Magnalia, vol. i. 258, 259. Calamy, Account of Ejected Ministers, ii. 94, 95. Non-conformist's Memorial,.iii. 290. Winthrop, Hist. N. E. ii. 161. 1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. x. 32. Holmes, Annals of America, i. 414, 415. Allen, Biographical Dict. ART. WOODBRIDGE. Mather, Magnalia, ii. 20.

2. GEORGE DOWNING was born in the city of London in 1624, and accompanied his parents to this country when about thirteen years of age. His father, Emanuel Downing was a great friend to New-England, and was brother-in-law to John Winthrop, one of the principal founders of the colony of Massachusetts, and its first governor. On his arrival here as early as 1638, he settled at Salem, where he was soon chosen representative to the general court, and continued in office five years. His son George was placed under the tuition of Rev. John Fiske, who resided at Salem as a teacher several years, and by him was fitted for college. When he entered the new institution at Cambridge, it was under the instruction of Nathaniel Eaton, a man found to be not well tempered for his station, and who was therefore removed from it; but on his entering his junior year, it was placed under the presidency of Henry DunHe remained in this country after he received his Bachelor's degree, until 1645, when he went in a ship by way of Newfoundland to the West Indies, his business being to instruct the seamen. He visited the Islands of St. Christopher's, Barbadoes, and Nevis, and, in each of these places, preached to such acceptance, that he

ster.

« PreviousContinue »